What a Weird Day

That is all I can think to say about this day. It was a super crappy day with bookends of awesomeness. I had my last final this morning and it went absolutely perfectly (meaning that I got an A). Then I talked with both Katie and Emma on the phone and that was lovely. I finished packing up and my mom and sister came to get me for a movie before I headed up the hill. As we were walking through Wal Mart (where we stopped before the movie) I received a call from one of the girlies at school. She was sobbing. She had been accused by one of our teachers of plagiarizing a paper. I know for certain that she did not cheat so I dropped my mom and sister off at Taco Bell and I rushed back to school to try to talk with the teacher and set her straight (in a nice way). She had already left when I got there so I sent her an email and we will see what happens there. I am praying my heart out that everything turns out well!

After I did all of this, I went back to Taco Bell and my sister had received some very bad news. I am not going to share the news but suffice it to say, we were both crying. I because of the plagiarizing incident and my sister because of her bad news. We all decided that it would be best to just get up to Hume as fast as we could so the movie was out. We went to the grocery store (which was actually a pretty fun trip) and then we headed up the mountain. When we got here we unloaded the groceries and relaxed for a few minutes.

My brother is speaking for Outdoor Ed this week so I went over to the chapel to listen to him speak. I was very early and had some awesome and encouraging conversations with Evan and some old friends. Then there was some excellent worship and finally my brother took the stage. I may be a little biased but I really do think that he did a wonderful job. It was decision night which means he shared the Gospel message. Whenever I hear the Gospel I am always reminded of what Tim Holzel told us in Joshua (ever single week). He used to say that Christians need the Gospel preached into their lives every day because we forget. When he said this to us I thought it was a load of Bull S*** but now when I reflect back on it I realize that Tim was absolutely right. I need to hear about how much God loves me and be reminded that Christ died for me every single day! I really needed it tonight and I had the pleasure of hearing it from one of my very favorite people who I respect above almost anyone else.

So, it was a very long and bizzar day, but it is over now. God is good. He is in control, He knows what is best, and He loves me. How could I possibly ask for more.

Moving Out

Thats right! I have my last final tomorrow and then I will be heading back to Hume for the summer. I kind of want to get out of her quickly tomorrow so I am packing up my car today. While in the process of packing I came upon my first really good "college story". I live on the second floor at the far end of the hall facing away from the parking lot. This means that I have the farthest trek to my car out of everyone in the school. This is only significant because it means that I leave my car all alone with the trunk open for significant periods of time as I walk to my room to grab another load. I had placed several boxes in my trunk and went up to my room to pack up a few more things (leaving my trunk open). While I was upstairs my roommate and I decided that we were thirst and should make a little trip to the gas station for some soda. As we were leaving (in her car) I remembered that I needed to close my trunk. I ran over quickly and pushed it closed from the back side of the lid, not bothering to even glance inside. As Mallory and I were pulling into the gas station I received a phone call from Jerred (another student) who said that he thought someone might be in my trunk. Jerred is a bit of a prankster so I thought he was just trying to get me to come out to my car so he could scare me. I informed him that there could not be anybody in my trunk because I had closed it. He said "Ahh, yes there could. I am in you trunk." I, of course, began laughing. Jerred had climbed into my trunk with the intent of scaring me when I brought out my next load. His plan had been thwarted, however, when I closed the trunk and left the school. We were only a few minutes away so we rushed back to let him out. He was entirely unharmed but I do not think that he will be climbing into any trunks again any time soon!

P.S. Here is my packed-upyness!

One more week

It has been an entire month since I last blogged. So April... at first when I was trying to remember what happened in April I couldn't think of anything and then I realized that lots of things happened in April. I counseled for the Jr. High Made conference at Hume and found out that I like working with Jr. Highers. I drove to Simi Valley and spent a long weekend with Emma and Cody, moving them into their temporary home and watching season 4 of Grey's Anatomy. I worked at Hume two weekends one of which was also my sisters 23rd birthday so we partied it up! I planted some little flowers in tiny pots in my window and they are actually growing (I didn't expect them to). My brother went to Israel (I realize that this is not something that I did but it was still significant to me). I finished up all of my classes for this semester, all I have left is finals. I registered for a summer class and for fall classes. I watched The Philadelphia Story with my mom (it is one of my favorites!). I helped my sister pick out her new pet bunny who's name is Rai. I don't think that I really did anything else that is worth writing on here but I suppose that this is enough for now. All in all it was a good month but I am glad that it is over. I am ready to have a week or two of not being quite so busy! I will try to be a little more diligent in my blogging but I am not making any promises.

Different

This semester I am taking Intro to Lit. I really like this class (because it is an English class!) and Mrs. Voss is the best teacher at this school so it is rockin! Over the past several weeks we have been discussing poetry and in class on Monday Mrs. Voss had us each write a poem. I have never written poetry before and I was not excited to start but I had to do it. I was having trouble thinking of a topic and as I sat considering different ideas my hair fell in front of my eyes (as it often does) and I suddenly had my topic. Here is my poem...

Different

These tresses of mine in varying shades of red

Are far removed from my families head.

Brown like the dirt and trees that surround them,

Their hair and eyes are nothing astounding.

Green, my eyes shine like emeralds,

While mom and dads show depth in mahogany.

Nowhere near those earth tones,

My features stand out all alone.

A blessing or a curse to be so diverse?

My place in my family I must rehearse.

Never identified as belonging to those I love,

But always noticed beyond and above.

A blessing, I think, to stand out in a crowd,

That I might sing God's praise far and loud.

Now, I have never felt at all that I did not fit into my family but it did seem like a good topic for a poem. It is interesting though that I am the only person in my family with my coloring. My brother has blue eyes but other than that everything is brown, then I show up on the scene (last because I am the youngest) and I have freckles and red hair and green eyes! I am one giant recessive gene! I rather like it! Thanks, family, for letting me stand out! I know you didn't do it on purpose but I still appreciate it. P.S. This poem is broken up into stanzas but for some reason blogspot is posting it without the spaces. Whatever.

Antsy

It is springtime and I am feeling the need to travel. It has been way to long. I have been so blessed in my relatively short life to travel a great deal. Traveling has gotten into my blood and on days like today I long to go somewhere, anywhere.

Israel Spring '07

Mexico Fall '06Switzerland Spring '06France Spring '06Germany Spring '05

I don't care where I go. I just love the change. I love the lighting being so much brighter because the ground is the same color as the sun. I love when the clouds engulf the mountains surrounding me and I cannot see what lies beyond. I love the snow coming down in drifts and the roads being cobbled. I love seeing trees I have never seen before and animals I didn't even know existed. I love having all of the stories I have read come alive as I see the places that inspired the writer. I just love to travel. I hope I can again someday soon.

A Very Long Spring Break

I have been on my spring break for the last week and a half and it has been long. It is a spring break I will never forget. It was so jam packed with big things that I am finding it difficult to digest it all. It started with Unite weekend at Hume. 25 students from my class came. It was incredible fun to see them all and such a blessing to be able to catch up with all of them and kind of renew all of those friendships that are so dear to my heart. It was exhausting to be running around on a continual emotional high for days but it was wonderful.

Once the Unite conference ended my family made our way over to San Louis Obispo. We where there for three days to celebrate my 21st birthday. We stayed in a hotel where there was TV (which has become a novelty in my family). We went miniature golfing and toured Hearst Castle (which will be my home someday). We ate out and ordered pizza in. I was a really fun and relaxing time for our whole family and such a blessing to all get to just be together and not running in and out to work. So fun!

We returned home on Wednesday and had a relaxing evening together. The following day Hume announced Jeff's resignation. There were lots of phone calls and many prayers. The following day the Lilley kids all made their way up to Hume and I spent the rest of the weekend dancing between their house and my own. It was all very emotionally taxing and it will continue to be for some time. Keep that family in your prayer! I was beginning to feel ill during this time and on Sunday it became a full blown horrible cold so I stayed home for one extra day still hanging with the Lilley's and trying to get better.I returned to school this morning and while I am glad to be back to a bit of normalcy I have no desire to be here. It was a week and a half of severe ups and downs but I would take those severe ups and downs with dear family and friends over this flat plain of school all by myself.

Grey's Anatomy

A week and a half ago I went to Simi Valley to visit Emily and Cody. Emma and I did lots of shopping and walking and talking and such all weekend so on Saturday evening we decided that Sunday was going to be a lazy day. We need a new girly movie to watch so we made a Target run to find something fitting. We were looking through the TV shows when we came upon Grey's Anatomy. Neither of us had ever watched the show but the first season was only $10 and then we would have more than just the two hours of enjoyment that a normal movie could afford. We decided to give it a try. As we drove back to Emma's house we joked that we were going to get addicted to Grey's and end up waisting a lot of money buying all of the available seasons.

We began watching the first season immediately and were instantly intrigued. We finished the first season the next morning and realized that we really were addicted. I returned to school that evening and the following day Emma and I both went out and purchases the second season. Now, less than two weeks later, I have finished the third season. We know ourselves so well.

Here are some of the many reasons I like Grey's Anatomy... It is somewhat real to life in that these people are certainly not perfect. In fact most of them are pretty stinking screwed up. Some of them are selfish and conceited. They don't always get along and they don't always make the right choices. The actors don't always look perfect and it is not just when they are upset but when they are just working. Their hair and clothes and makeup are not always modelesque which is very real to life because really, nobody always looks perfect. Most of the time I have no idea who to route for which is always fun. It seems like some of the people who do the most horrible things are actually better people then the ones who only do moderately stupid stuff.

The most wonderful thing about Grey's Anatomy (in my opinion) in Addison Montgomery. Addison didn't come in until the last episode of the first season but she won her way into my heart very quickly. She is a very complex character who has no real idea of what she wants or needs. She apparently became so popular among fans that they created a new show all about her called Private Practice. I have not watched it yet but I definitely will eventually. Addison is played by Kate Walsh who is beautiful and a fantastic actress. I love her.

In short, I love Grey's Anatomy. It is morally kind of yucky at times but I still really do love it.